Staring as we mean to go on...

EatingGlitter

EDIT: LOL. That should say STARTING not staring hehe

So we haven't even exchanged yet but my OH and I are trying to be mortgage free as soon as possible.

We have a £137,600 mortgage at a rate of 4,79% for three years.

We can over pay by £500 per month for the first three years without incurring any extra charges.

We plan on doing this as often as we can and, in an ideal world, we could pay it off in 11 years (when we're 36!).

The mortgage is about a third of our monthly income and we've planned it so that if either of us couldn't work for whatever reason one person's wage could cover everything.

We've each started paying £600 each (£1,200 in total) a month into an account to cover mortgage and bills. This will build us up a bit of a buffer of joint savings whilst still having plenty to do individual savings and expenses.

However, I know that life doesn't usually work out like that and I just wanted to see how realistic people find this.

We are unmarried, no kids, we are engaged and planning to get married next year with a budget wedding and help from friends and family. We have no savings as such now (All plowed into deposit and costs) and we are debt freeish (I owe OH's mum about £3k, paying back £100 pcm)

I don't have an exact figure on all our monthly outgoings as partner's income fluctuates with overtime and his car and motorbike stuff he hasn't shared. Before I get into a detailed SOA I just wanted to hear if anybody thought this is an achievable goal (without going completely skippy) to pay it off in 11 years.

Thanks!

Engeroosi

Only you know if your targets are achievable or not. I think you may find that once you complete and move in to your new home things won't be straightforward for first 6 months. You will take a while to settle down financially and after that re-assess. To begin with I would concentrate on settling in, making it your own and Overpaying whatever you can comfortably.

Remember you have lives to live aswell.

Welcome and good luck. this can get very addictive!!

EatingGlitter

Thanks! I think an extra £500 a month isn't too impossible however my partner earns more than me and he's very... black and white. He's never lived away from home before and I've explained about unexpected bills, price rises etc but he's determined to pay it off as quickly as possible... which is great.

He says that we should forego a lot of the nice stuff in life now (holidays etc) because when we're mortgage free we will have all that extra money to play with as we want. But where I do agree with him in principle at 25, 11 years seems a very long time to miss out on some of the fun stuff.

Phelpsie001

I'm in a similarish position...

Build up 6 months worth of mortgage payments or £5,000 (whichever is more).

Beyond that, overpay but increase your savings by at least 20% a year.

Works for me

Engeroosi

You can enjoy more things though when your 25, ie being on the beach at 25 is much more enjoyable than when your nearing 40 and hate your body for eg.

I am all for clearing my mortgage also but do not want to lead a boring life in the meantime. My wife would run off with someone more exciting for a start i suspect!! lol.

dimbo61

Building up your savings is a good start and once you move into your property I would overpay/save 50/50% until you have £16K in savings.
then consider the £500 a month OP,s while ensuring you both fill a cash ISA each year
Easy for me to say much harder for a new couple in a new house which needs filling !!!!